Crime and Punishment #22

The Reckus Brothers were ruthless criminals who learned their trade during Prohibition, and when bootlegging begins to collapse, the desperate duo scheme to pull off a kidnapping to keep their operation afloat. But when their plan goes sideways and evidence starts mounting against them, Officer Common Sense and the law close in on their criminal empire. This true crime tale traces how two brothers' violent ambitions finally catch up with them.

Sam Burgess thought he'd covered his tracks when he coerced his ex-employee into signing a confession for embezzled funds, but one swindle leads to another in "The Daisy Chain of Death"—as each criminal in the scheme tries to outmaneuver the others, the consequences spiral into murder. When bodies start piling up and the police come knocking, Sam discovers that crime's debts always come due.

Charles "Lucky" Ward operates as a daring jewel and artifact thief by night while maintaining a respectable day job, but his string of high-value heists—a priceless gold cup, a diamond tiara, and more—has attracted the relentless attention of Detective Paul Bradford. As the detective tightens the noose with each lead, Ward finds himself increasingly desperate to move his stolen goods before the police close in.

When counterfeiter Gus Rollins sets up operations to print counterfeit currency in Balington, federal agent Barnes is dispatched to track him down before the phony bills flood the market. An accomplice at the Shaw-Lux Printing Company becomes entangled in Rollins' scheme, but a dangerous confrontation erupts when an outsider discovers the operation and threatens to expose them all. Can Barnes close in before Rollins makes his final move?